Reyes for the Weary: Designer Brian Invigorates in Seventh-Inning Stretch

Tuesday was Fashion Week’s seventh-inning stretch. In the tent at Bryant Park, waiting in line for seat assignments, a group of girls talked loudly—and seriously—about the possibility of using Botox on their feet “because you don’t feel pain.”

It was like the exhausted audience had stood up and began singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

So people were getting a little burned out, that’s to be expected, but Brian Reyes’s exciting collection was the perfect antidote.

The audience included Mexican pop singer Thalia—in some impressive gator-skin stilettos—with her husband, music executive Tommy Mottola, and Kelly Rowland.

Ms. Rowland sucked on a blue lollipop and hid her eyes behind a pair of dark sunglasses. She was decked out in all black, and looked like a rock star from another era.

Mr. Reyes’s designs included dresses with a colorful “bleeding heart print,” shorts—really short shorts that could have easily passed for lingerie–and black “skeletal” patterns that looked like Rorschach inkblot tests.

The Temptations came on the speakers as the models stomped down the runway, and Ms. Rowland danced and sang in her chair.

When it was over, Mr. Reyes came out in a pair of scuffed tennis shoes, looking exceptionally comfortable, like he’d saved all the excitement for his clothing.